Malacañang supports online civil service exams

Malacañang backed the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) plan to hold online civil service eligibility exams as part of the “new normal” amid the raging novel coronavirus pandemic.Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government will pressure telco firms to improve Internet connectivity if necessary to ensure that online civil service exams will run smoothly.

“I think that will become part of the new normal. We cannot wait for a vaccine or cure before we go back to our normal lives. As long as the technology is there, we should use it, especially that we want to hire many government employees and many lost their jobs due to COVID-19,” he said in a press briefing.

Roque was referring to the CSC’s efforts to shift to an online exam for civil service eligibility and other career service examinations.

Transition

CSC commissioner Aileen Lizada said the agency’s examination, recruitment and placement office was instructed to look for ways on how to facilitate the exams, which used to be conducted via a pen-and-paper test.

The pandemic caused the postponement of the civil service eligibility and career service examinations due to community quarantine restrictions on mass gatherings.

Roque believed that the government could successfully transition to online exams for civil service eligibility, and that the government would pressure telcos to step up to make this happen.

“If we need to pressure the telco companies to do this, we will do this. The President has already done his part by telling local officials to allow the construction of telco towers. So telco firms have no more reason if they cannot improve our telco facilities and connectivity,” he said.